9/27 Rays @ SOX 6:10PM ET

[Tedballgame]

Glad I didn't waste any time watching that game.

[dgalehouse]

These guys are striking out at an alarming rate.

[Tedballgame]

Rays are Red Sox Daddy!

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Who's Jansen?

 

Only kidding. I know who Jansen is. He's the actor who played Dr Richard Kimball in the popular TV series THE FUGITIVE.

Edited September 28, 2023 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[Old Red]

Maybe Bloom was just a Rays plant, all along!

 

Now that’s some of the most sense you’ve made on here.

[FredLynn]

My point was more that Fred only posts when they are losing. Eventually, he’ll say I’m oughta here, only to be back complaining about something.

 

I don’t always get to watch the game in real time. Since I’m in the Central Time Zone, often I’ll get to see the first inning or 2 live. Then it’s dinner time and I might not get back for an hour or so (more if I’m grilling or otherwise preparing). It’s why when I do post in the game thread, there will be very little commentary by me on the middle and late innings.

 

Sorry

That’s bs.

When the team is playing well I single out individual players or plays made that stand out. I have already singled out the few bright spots on this team.

But overall this year not only have they lacked talent but they have also lacked focus and have made way too many brain dead mistakes. Now they have obviously quit on the fans, barely showing up to go through the motions most of the time.

I call them as I see them and this year, while there have been a few bright spots like Martin and Bello, most of these guys have played like bums.

[jgar658]

How come the Rays have big tall strong young pitchers that can throw hard whereas our pitchers are a bunch of skinny weakl guys with no arm speed? No one in our staff can throw 100 MPH.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

How come the Rays have big tall strong young pitchers that can throw hard whereas our pitchers are a bunch of skinny weakl guys with no arm speed? No one in our staff can throw 100 MPH.

 

That's because miles are a standard unit of measurement. Our analytics dept. is all about modern metrics.

 

So our staff does throw a lot of pitches that are hit at least 160.9344 kilometers per hour.

[Maxbialystock]

Sorry

That’s bs.

When the team is playing well I single out individual players or plays made that stand out. I have already singled out the few bright spots on this team.

But overall this year not only have they lacked talent but they have also lacked focus and have made way too many brain dead mistakes. Now they have obviously quit on the fans, barely showing up to go through the motions most of the time.

I call them as I see them and this year, while there have been a few bright spots like Martin and Bello, most of these guys have played like bums.

 

To me there have been a bunch of bright spots, starting with Casas and Duran, who surprised most of us with their new found ability to hit MLB pitching. Plus Duran is taking better routes on balls hit to the outfield, and his speed on the basepaths is amazing and productive.

 

Both catchers, Wong and Wright, have been better than expected. So has 38 year old Turner. Bello--you already mentioned as well as Martin.

 

Sale had not only his best season since 2019, but it has been better than 2020-22 (3 seasons) combined. I am not saying we shouldn't be skeptical about next season, but am saying we could be pleasantly surprised.

 

As moonslav has pointed out, the Sox have several capable middle/long relievers in Whitlock, Pivetta, Houck, Crawford, and Winckowski. If the Sox acquire 2 or 3 reliable starters in the offseason, those 5 plus Martin and Jansen would be a pretty fair bullpen.

 

Your dismay with this team this season is merited because the pitching and hitting overall have been subpar. Ditto the defense. Thus the losing record. However, as moonslav and many others have said, acquiring 2 or 3 good starters would make a huge difference, and the lineup for next year--with or without Duvall, Turner, Duran, and/or Verdugo--should be pretty decent.

 

Three sniveling excuses for this season: 1) lots of injuries (Story, Duvall, Paxton, Houck, Whitlock, Sale, Duran, Casas, Reyes, etc; 2) killer schedule Aug 4-Sep 20 when the Sox played 48 games with just 3 days off; 3) team payroll was/is ranked 15th in MLB, the lowest team salary ranking in the John Henry era and probably in the last 40 years.